Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Biopsychosocial perspective on swearing
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Biopsychosocial perspective on swearing
Swearing is debated frequently by many people as there are many different beliefs and opinions on it. By definition, swearing is the use of offensive language, which may cause one to ask how can words become “offensive”? Of course there are many words that are very racist and demeaning to certain races, cultures, and genders, but apart from those words, what makes the others “offensive”? In order to answer this question, it is important to first understand the history of swearing, its biopsychosocial perspective, and its use in the work environment. All of these topics are essential to finding out what swearing is and how we characterize “offensive” swearing. The history of swearing is very complex, but it is simply described as “a form …show more content…
For example, Hell is a swear word. Hell is referred in the Bible as a place of punishment. However, in our everyday lives most people use it as a way to show surprise. “What the hell!”. Another common word that is used all the time is “Damn”. Damn in the bible is referred to damnation which is punishment in the Christian religion. When we refer to swear words Humans from the beginning of time have been using curse and swear words. Many cultures have developed their own taboo swear words, most of the time in their common language. Throughout history, swearing has always been condemned and known to be demeaning by many cultures and religions around the world. In the bible around 12000 BC., A commandment was given in the bible: “Thou shalt not use the Lords name in vain, to stop the use of the name in false oaths. That new commandment takes for granted not only that people lie, but that they lie under oath, attempting to sanctify the low by using the high, abusing the scared for profane purposes. That's why many Christians take offense to swearing. It Violates one of the commandments that was made for Christians to follow so they can live a good life. Another example of swearing that is condemned in a religion is in the Muslim religion. …show more content…
Many managers want their work environment to be a positive work environment where everyone can learn and grow. “Perception, whether right or wrong is real to the person perceiving it. To avoid misperceptions, avoid using foul language altogether” (Hofflund). Many workplace environments are centered around perception and misperceptions, which are directly related to how people talk to each other. Bill Poymero, a spokesman for Xcel Energy-Cheynne Light, said that the company had no tolerance for profanity in their workplace. “We deal with it if it occurs, and we don't expect it to continue.” Earlier in the article Ilene Olson talks about O’Connor and his book on cuss control. He gives us insight on how to change the way speak to people and that it does take time to see that change. He gives suggestions on how to get use language more effectively: the first step is to recognize that swearing does damage; the second is to eliminate casual swearing; and the third is to think positively. Remember, everyones opinion on swearing and cursing is not the same as yours. Think about the audience around you before you just blurt out a word. . If It does not take much for someone to be offended by your language or agree with it, then what is the emotional and motivational aspect of swearing? How does it affect you and me? At work for an example, many people swear to fill emotions.
Thomas Paine, in the pamphlet Common Sense, succeeded in convincing the indifferent portion of colonial society that America should secede from Britain through moral and religious, economic, and governmental arguments. Using strong evidence, targeting each separate group of people, Thomas Paine served not only to sway the public 's opinion on American independence, but also to mobilize the effort to achieve this ultimatum.
In the modern society, millions of people realize that several offensive words with insulting taboo meanings heavily disturb their daily lives and break some special groups of people’s respect to push them to feel like outsiders of the whole society. As a result, more and more people join some underway movements to eliminate the use of these offensive words in people’s everyday speech and writing. However, these offensive words themselves are not the culprit, the bad meanings people attach are the problems and some other functions of the words are useful in the society. Christopher M. Fairman the author of “ Saying It Is Hurtful, Banning It Is Worse” also argues that although
The same concept is written in the essay, 'The Power of Profanity' by Scott Weaver. Weaver starts his article with a small paragraph titled 'before you read.' The paragraph goes as follows 'How comfortable are you with profanity? How is your own attitude about profanity shaped by the environments in which you grew up?' Scott Weaver starts of showing on your own terms how a person’s environment contributes to how we shape the meaning of our
To paraphrase the late comedian George Carlin, language is used to mask the truth. In his 1990 stand up special “Doin' It Again” he says “there is nothing wrong with those words in and of themselves” when talking about bad language. He and McCorkle both argued that context is more important than the words themselves, and this is not hard to prove. In Monty Python’s “The Life Of Brian”, there is a scene where a man is to be stoned for saying the word “Jehovah”, but the people instead decide to stone the man announcing his crime, as he had to say “Jehovah”. Humans need to express emotions, and swear words are a conduit for one’s distaste or anger. They are indeed vital to expression.
In the case of Margaret Atwood, she has undoubtedly recognized and put emphasis on the use of language as power, as well as captured the very essence of it being ever-evolving, not to mention has used profanity as verbal modifiers to increase the connotation of words - to quote Austin Carroll a student from Garrett High School "Fuck is one of those fucking words you can fucking put anywhere in a fucking sentence and it still fucking makes sense." This quote is, of course, a linguistic and syntactic observation that Atwood herself has exemplified through her signature phrase "Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. . . Don't let the bastards grind you down." (216) Offred has discovered that the use of language "can oppress, as well as express." (Conboy 350) As
In order to effectively communicate with those around us it’s important to understand the context of a given situation. We can usually recognize these connections right off the bat and when it comes to cathartic swearing this is especially so. These expletives are very straightforward and are frequently referred to as the ‘stub-your-toe’ class of swearing because with yelling, “FUCK!”, you unleash a healthy amount of pent-up emotion or anger that may have even been causing some stress. The only issue seen with this variety of swearing is the commonness in which it occurs. Toddlers and small children will often pick up the words and phrases that are being said around them. As Wajnryb states in chapter 3, “The fact is that kids swear because they copy the modeled behaviors around them, usually in the home. You stub a toe, you swear. Your child overhears and learns how to react in similar circumstances. It doesn’t matter what the phrase is, it becomes the language associated with the emotion of anger or frustration” (pg. 89). The most interesting thing about this is that when the child first repeats a
So swearing isn’t bad then right?, in my opinion yes. The research has shown that there is no negative impact by swearing. The leading cause of the restriction of swearing is what parents have taught their kids generation to generation. If anything swearing is good and the ability to express yourself freely with your words should make any conversation more
For example, when someone is talking about children being whipped with belts, and saying it is abuse, I usually comment on it saying something along the line as, that’s what I would have done. I have been getting better about this and biting my tongue when what I was going to say was not appropriate. Occasionally I will say something that I believe in about a situation, but try to be more appropriate. I understand how this can potentially get me in trouble, especially if I say something to the wrong/right person and they see it as unprofessional and fire me or write me up for it. I am learning through DSS when it can be appropriate to do so, and I am also practicing holding my tongue when I know, or even think, it could be
This is an example of how people in passing cannot tell the context in which potentially offensive phrases are used; therefore, such phrases should be avoided. If a phrase or word could be taken as hurtful, there is no need to risk hurting the feelings of others who may potentially hear a word or phrase out of context. There is absolutely no need to risk hurting the feelings of others when it can be avoided. Phrases are deemed as slurs because they are negative, hurtful and perceived differently by many people, making the context of the conversation an afterthought for many, especially young people. The speaker of
A lie is a lie. Many times we try to tell ourselves that some things aren't true. We tell ourself that spreading rumours doesn't matter, or that there's no harm in shoplifting. When we believe these lies, we're only deceiving ourself (Leviticus 19: 16-17). In James 3: 1-12, it is pointed out that you can not tell the truth and lie at the same time. The Bible points out that a half-truth is a lie.
Restricted speech code speakers often use slang and can be associated with the working and middle classes. Bernstein stressed the idea that elaborated speech codes were largely used in schools and thus allowed for those students who have already developed elaborated speech codes to excel as they would identify with class materials better than those students who spoke within restricted speech codes. This theory was tested and proved in Ain’t No Makin It as the teachers
3. In the newspaper article, “Offensive Or Just too Sensitive,” Trevett starts off by explaining how there is currently a politically correct war where supporters fight to remove seemingly offensive and slang words that are sometimes used in everyday language
Well, yes and no. Yes because more and more people are using profanity in today's society than in previous years. Also, no because we also don't realize how much profanity is used until we are older and use it more often. Profanity has escalated in social media. Profanity is celebrated in social media forms such as twitter, facebook, and tumbler.
Writing my paper over twang was giving me so much hell that I changed the subject to hell. The word hell is a word that is frequently used by people upon certain occasions. The definition of hell is the place or state of punishment of the wicked after death; the abode of evil and condemned spirits; any place or state of torment or misery; something that causes torment or misery. From the above it can be seen that hell has a negative connotation. An examination of the place of punishment, the state of misery or which bring suffering or misery will help define the full meaning of the negative implications for the word hell.
It has been extensively used in human beings’ communication. “Euphemism” derives from the Greek words “euphemos” and “pheme”, in which the former means “auspicious”or “sounding good”, and the latter refers to “speak”. On the whole, a euphemism is an expression intended by the speaker to be less offensive, disturbing, or troubling to the listener than the word or phrase it replaces. Ancestors in the ancient time show their fear and reverence towards natural power, which gives rise to euphemism. With the advance of society, On top of the influence of religion, other factors such as customs, hierarchy, cultures, courtesy and etc. have heavily shaped and filtered into the contents of euphemism.